Newspaper Interview with ANTM's Cassie

Cassie Grisham was booted from "America's Next Top Model" Wednesday night.

Kelli Stegeman - Daily Staff Writer

November 05, 2004

OU student Cassie Grisham has been hoping for many years that she would get the chance to become a supermodel. With the help of Tyra Banks, she was well on her way of making her dream a reality.
Grisham was watching the first episode of America’s Next Top Model when she saw the search was on for the second season. The small town girl with no previous modeling experience put her faith in her face, applied and was chosen.
Little did she know that she would be kicked off Wednesday’s show in the seventh episode.
Throughout the episodes many things were revealed about Cassie’s life.
Grisham is an international and area studies sophomore and she currently calls Branson, Mo., her home. The Daily conducted a phone interview to get the latest.

The Daily: “How did you get involved in modeling?”

Grisham: “Actually, I wasn’t involved in modeling until I got picked to be on the show, but I went through an audition process which after I watched last season they said, ‘If you want to try out the show you can print off the application on upn.com and send in some pictures and a video.’ And I did, so they called me back and I got on the show.”

The Daily: “What has been the largest hurdle that you have overcome. Have you always had a dream of modeling?”

Grisham: “It’s actually been my passion for a very long time. I’ve been in small towns my whole life so there was never really a way to do modeling, so this was actually the first chance I had gotten at a real chance to be a model. So it’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do. It’s still something that I’m going to pursue even though I’ve been eliminated from the show.

The Daily: “Did you find that there was a huge difference between where you are from, Branson, Mo., and New York City?”

Grisham: “There’s a big difference from any town and New York City.”

The Daily: “Were you overwhelmed or was it easy for you to make the transition?”

Grisham: “When you first get to New York and you see everything, you are kind of overwhelmed. But if this is the place where you are planning on living , you’ve got to get used to it really fast and I think I did. I think on the show they kind of portrayed me as hating New York and just really unhappy, but I’ve been back to New York City since the taping of the show and I absolutely love New York, so I would move here in a second.”

The Daily: “What is the one thing you have learned from being on the show? Is modeling everything you thought it would be or did you find any surprises?”

Grisham: “I have wanted to do it for a long time and since I was about 12 years old I have been reading magazines, looking at sites, learning about these women, so I think I had a pretty good idea of how cutthroat the industry is, and so when I came here and I got to do the photo shoots and actually feel like a real model I wasn’t surprised at all. They either like you or they don’t. You either take good pictures or you don’t, so it’s very black and white and you learn to either deal with it or a lot of girls go home cause they can’t.”

The Daily: “What was the experience that you had living with twelve other girls?”

Grisham: (Laughs) “Living in the close quarters that we did, any group of girls is going to get into fights. There are going to be rumors, and I knew that coming into it because girls are just that way. It was hard at times, but you know, I’ve made some friends out of it and I don’t regret anything and I’m glad I did it.”

The Daily: “Do you think that you were portrayed correctly on the show?”

Grisham: “A lot of the show I was portrayed as someone that I’m not and I can’t get mad at the process because we knew going into the show that footage was going to be edited, so I can’t blame anyone for it. But there are a lot of things that came out on the show that were untrue. For instance, they say that I have an eating disorder and that’s not true. They portrayed me as being really unhappy and kind of whiny the whole time and kind of a loner and all of that is not true. I have friends, I don’t have an eating disorder and yes, I had instances when I was in New York this summer that I was unhappy. Everyone did. All the girls were unhappy at some point in time, but they only put me on there as the unhappy one.”

The Daily: “Some people have been shocked by the fact that you are stripping to get through college. What do you want to say to those shocked people?”

Grisham: “A lot of people automatically assume that stripping is something that is horrible and they can’t believe I would do that, but a lot of those people have money and I would like to say to them that I don’t have the luxury of being able to afford college. I have a lot of student loans. I have two little brothers and an older sister that my mom is still supporting and it’s not like I can just call my mom and ask for money, so I took on stripping so I wouldn’t have to be a burden on my mother. I didn’t start stripping to buy drugs or to be wealthy because I strip. I do that to pay for school and I hope that everyone understands that. My parents are divorced, my dad doesn’t help at all. I pay for school with student loans and financial aid.”

Well, that was an interesting interview, to say the least. Sad to see she's STILL in denial about her eating disorder, amongst other things it appears, even more sad to see she's fixated upon pursuing a career that's going to exacerbate her problems.

Well, that was an interesting interview, to say the least. Sad to see she's STILL in denial about her eating disorder, amongst other things it appears, even more sad to see she's fixated upon pursuing a career that's going to exacerbate her problems.

I hope that Cassie is only in public denial, not private denial, for her sake. And on one hand, she shouldn't have to share her problems with the world; on the other, how does she expect anybody to believe her? You can't attribute that footage to tricky editing, especially with no explanation.

In order to avoid being "the bulimic girl from that reality show," I would say something like this: "I'd rather not go into the details, but it's my own problem and I'm dealing with it. I hope the viewers can take away something positive from what they saw on TV. Maybe that behind outer beauty, there can be things that are not so perfect. Models are people, too, blah, blah, blah..." Something.

Grisham: “When you first get to New York and you see everything, you are kind of overwhelmed. But if this is the place where you are planning on living , you’ve got to get used to it really fast and I think I did. I think on the show they kind of portrayed me as hating New York and just really unhappy, but I’ve been back to New York City since the taping of the show and I absolutely love New York, so I would move here in a second.”

How can she deny she has an eating disorder? When she was talking with her boyfriend, all she had to say was "you know what" and he knew what she was talking about. If it didn't exist, then how would he know, and how would it be such a commone thing they wouldnt even have to refer to it by name? I hope she takes care of herself, she's a beautiful girl, but Im worried about her self-image. I hope she stays healthy, and realize that she's better than what she seems to think.

How can she deny she has an eating disorder? When she was talking with her boyfriend, all she had to say was "you know what" and he knew what she was talking about.

She denied a lot of things and also said the show "portrayed her as being unhappy" - when she said to the drill sergent "I don't want to be here, I want to go back home" I think it was a natural assumption that maybe she didn't want to be there! But I have to also sympathize with her, if some of my deepest darkest secrets came out on a reality show I'd be trying to save face wherever I could too. She's probably not in denial and just embarrassed.

Throughout the episodes many things were revealed about Cassie’s life. Grisham is an international and area studies sophomore and she currently calls Branson, Mo., her home. The Daily conducted a phone interview to get the latest.

Omg! Why can't he just say it! "And her eating disorder"... Any good reporter would've mentioned it, even Barbara and Oprah would say it.

I hope that Cassie is only in public denial, not private denial, for her sake. And on one hand, she shouldn't have to share her problems with the world; on the other, how does she expect anybody to believe her? You can't attribute that footage to tricky editing, especially with no explanation.

I would hope so, but somehow, I doubt it. You're absolutely right, ANTM couldn't have created the footage without Cassie actually saying things, there was no trick editting involved. Its not so much a question of how they made her look on the show, as how she (amongst other former contestants) doesn't realize how she looks and presents herself in real life.

And you're right, she shouldn't have to share her problems with the world, but OTOH if you go on a reality TV program and talk about family problems, financial problems, your occupation, and the eating disorder you won't acknowledge, it does open up a can full of worms. What she told Amanda was told in confidence and should have been kept that way, however when it was apparently referred to in front of a camera crew and she did nothing but order diet cokes for dinner, it was bound to get out.

I feel sorry for Cassie, she truly sounds like she's got an awful situation, and I really hope she gets some counselling for all these issues in her life, but she seems like she's in denial about so many things. Stripping is not such a bad job?!?! Then why were you so desperate to get away from it, why did none of your family know what you were doing? She said too much on the show, my dad is a jerk, I strip for a living and I hate it, I hate NY, I don't want to be a model, I hate these girls, and now that she's back to real life in Oklahoma and she's still got to strip to pay the bills, her father is probably even less willing to help than before, her problems are compounded, and her escape route may have been blocked by her own loose tongue.

In order to avoid being "the bulimic girl from that reality show," I would say something like this: "I'd rather not go into the details, but it's my own problem and I'm dealing with it. I hope the viewers can take away something positive from what they saw on TV. Maybe that behind outer beauty, there can be things that are not so perfect. Models are people, too, blah, blah, blah..." Something.

Yeah, if she admitted her problems, did the talk show circuit, I think people would rush to embrace and support her. But as it is, I don't see this happening. Its too bad.